Sor’s Allegro in the Spanish style, Natalie Houzé, and key dates in European cultural and political history

This article is about Sor’s Allegro dans le genre espagnol (‘Allegro in the Spanish style’) which is the last movement in his guitar duet Fantaisie op. 54 bis. It contains rhythms that appear to be Andalusian, with plenty of hemiola and even with rasgueado notated, and in using that idiom it is unique in Sor’s music for solo guitar or for guitar duet. It was first published in Paris in about 1833, probably performed there in a concert in February 1832 as we shall see, and therefore probably composed in 1831. The question is: why did it appear at that particular moment? I would like to suggest that it may have something to do with the date.